Mumbai: The State government told the Bombay High Court on Monday that despite opposition from the parents of Matushri Kashiben Vrajlal Valia (MKVV) International Vidyalaya students, classes will have to be shifted out of the school building in Borivali (West), as it is in a dilapidated condition.
The State government told this to a Division Bench of Justices Anoop Mohta and Bharti Dangre, based on a report submitted by the building’s architect. The report said that it is in the interest of the students that they be shifted out of the building, as it needs to be demolished.
However, the report added that if the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) concludes that the building is fine, the State’s order will be void.
Around 2,500 students will be shifted to Sheth Gopalji Hemraj High School in Borivali (East), about 4 km away from the current school.
The trust that runs the school told the court that it would conduct exams scheduled for next month in the current premises, and start the next semester after the Diwali holidays in the new premises.
A parent present in court said, requesting anonymity, “The school is going to any extent to ensure our kids go to a school which is far away from our homes. But we will challenge the order.”
In the last hearing, the BMC had submitted a visual audit report of the building, but said it needed to carry out a structural audit of the building before concluding anything. The court was previously informed that the BMC had ordered the school to stop the migration as the civic body had not declared the school building as ‘dangerous’ or ‘dilapidated’ for their proposed redevelopment plan.
As per a government resolution issued on July 13, 2013, schools must decide on such migration before the start of the academic session, and intimate parents about it a year in advance. It also says that primary and secondary sections should be shifted within a range of one to three kilometres.